Feeding device.



E. SEAVEY.

FEEDING DEVICE.

APPLICATION IILED JUNE 25, 1910.

1,012,106. PatentedDec.19,1 911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

INVENTOR- Q CCCCCC IA PLANDGRAPH CO-IWASHINGTONI D. C.

E. SEAVEY.

FEEDING DEVICE.

,LPPLIOA'I'ION FILED JUNE 25, 1910.

Patented Dec. 19, 1911.

Z SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' INVENTOR lga ie a, By Attorneys, 0*

WITNESSES:

. COLUMBIA muoaRAn-l C0,, WASHINGTON, D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EUGENE SEAVEY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO ARBUGKLE BROTHERS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A FIRM.

FEEDING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 19, 1911.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGENE SEAVEY, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feeding Devices, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide new and improved means for feeding irregular shaped objects in prescribed succession to a point where such objects are desired for the purpose of being inclosed in a wrapper or other package.

My invention will be found particularly useful in feeding such material as is on the market wrapped in packages, as for instance in wax paper packages.

I have illustrated the invention as employed in connection with sticks of candy. These are obtained wrapped in wax paper with the ends of the paper twisted. The

candy is very irregular in shape and size,

it may be straight or curved, and varies in width from less than half an inch to nearly an inch, and the ends thereof are of.uncer tain and irregular shape. Under these circumstances the feeding of such candy is a very difficult matter, owing to the fact that the presence of the paper creates friction and tends to bind the packages together, and to the further fact that the irregularity of shape increases such tendency.

A further object of my invention therefore is to provide means whereby the tendency of such material to bind in the receptacle, as a hopper, is overcome, and such material is maintained always in a loose and easily flowing condition.

Further objects of the invention are to provide means whereby any material which is improperly presented to the slideway may be dropped therefrom, and also to provide means whereby the attendant will be notified a suflicient time in advance of the fact that the supply of material is nearly exhausted.

These and other objects which will appear as the specification proceeds, I attain by the mechanism and devices illustrated in the particular embodiment of my invention shown on the accompanying drawings. Here, Figure 1 illustrates an elevation partly in section of my improved feeding de vice; Fig. 1 is a detail view of connections to the agitator and rocker. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the lower part of the device taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an end view looking toward the right of Fig. 1; Fig. A is a section looking to the right on the line 4% of Fig. 1.

My improved feeding device may be employed in connection with a hopper A, which is very conveniently equipped with a hinged cover a. The hopper is provided with a floor which is shown as being formed of two parts a a inclined toward the center, where their inner edges are separated a suitable distan'ce forming an outlet a Within this hopper the material to be fed, in this case sticks of candy B, are placed, and while their tendency is to roll down toward the outlet, I find that this tendency is overcome by the greater tendency of the said materials to bind and arch themselves in such a manner within the receptacle as to prevent the proper discharge thereof through the outlet. To overcome this tendency, I provide means for agitating the said material within the hopper, whereby they are prevented from binding or arching, and if such binding or arching does occur, it is instantly overcome by the agitation of the mass. Said means as illustrated comprise on the side a an agitator C, which as shown is composed of a half round bar with its convex side uppermost. This bar is illustrated as eX- tending substantially across the bottom of the hopper A, and it is preferably mounted upon the forward end of a spring plate 0 which permits the agitator to yield slightly should any binding occur, thereby preventing the breaking of the device or of the material being fed. The spring plate a is illustrated as being fixed, as by screws, to a post 0 which travels in a slot a in the floor a thereby permitting the reciprocation of the agitator C.

The inner or lowest part of the inclined floor 01. is separated from and hinged to the main body thereof at a forming a rocking shelf or platform D, which assists in agitating the materials to be fed.

The agitator C and the rocker D are operated from a shaft E through a crank pin 6, pitman (2 connected to post 0 at 6 and to the rocker D through lever e which is fulcrumed at e and has a pin-and-slot con nection with the rocker at e and with the pitman at c. It will be perceived that as the pitman e is reciprocated by the rotation of the shaft E, the agitator C will be reciprocated under the mass of material, and at the same time the free end of the rocker D will be rocked up and down, thereby agitating the mass of material throughout the width of the hopper and loosening the same, so that as the said rocker and agitator separate upon the backward movement of the pitman, a stick of candy, if that be the material being acted upon. will be free and permitted to pass through the outlet. From the outlet the randy or other material which is being fed is received in the upper end of an inclined slideway F, and wherein it is held when in proper position transversely of this slideway. It may happen, however, that a stick of candy should pass longitudinally through the outlet and extend longitudinally into the slideway, and as this is undesirable, I have provided means which may be employed to remove such improperly presented material. Such means as illustrated consist in the open spaces f 7 upon each side of the bottom floor of the slideway formed by omitting part of the floor therefrom. The improperly presented material is free to pass through such open spaces. The floor t and top plate f of the slideway are held in place by channel brackets f which are secured to the side rails of the slideway and to the floor and top plate.

It is very desirable to provide means for indicating when the supply of material which the machine is feeding is nearly exhausted, and I have illustrated one means of giving such indication, the same consisting of a movable arm G which is pivotally mounted atits upper end 9, and is electri rally connected with a binding post g. So long as a sppply ofmaterial is passing down the slideway, this movable arm is main tained in the position shown in Fig. 1, but when the last object has passed from beneath the said arm it drops into electrical connection with plate electrically con nccted to binding post 9 ringing a bell g or giving such other alarm as may be de sired.

The material being fed by the machine is discharged from the lower part or foot of the slideway F by an ejector H which is adapted to enter an opening in the foot of said slideway, and there will engage the lowermost stick of candy and pass the same out through an opening in the opposite side, from whence the candy may pass to an inclined chute I, which if desired may convey it to the place where it is to be incased, in the instance shown to a bag J which is being filled with other material in connection with which the candy is desired to be inclosed. The ejector H is connected at its rear end to a guide it which slides in a guideway 7L and is caused to travel back and forth by an eccentric K mounted upon a shaft 7; through lever 76 link 7& bell crank lever [-1 pivoted at and connecting arm Z3". The shaft 70 and E may be operated by any suitable means, and I have not thoughtnecessary to illustrate a source of power.

\Vhile I have illustrated sundry features as useful in connection with my feeding device, some of them I do not regard as essential to its operation, and many of them may be changed within the range of equivalents which would suggest tllUIHSBlYGS to a. skilled mechanic, and various modifications may be made therein which would serve to adapt the said device to the many uses for which it is applicable.

The particular forms of agitator and rocker illustrated are those which I prefer to employ, as I have found them useful and desirable in practice, but I do not how ever wish to be understood as limiting myself to such particular forms, nor to the par ticular relative movements illustrated.

I claim as my invention 1. A feeding device comprising a receptacle provided with an outlet, a stationary floor adapted to support the articles to be fed, and means located within the receptaele for agitating the articles to be fed comprising an agitator consisting of a bar located near the floor, parallel with the articles to be fed, and means for reciprocating the same relative to the floor, and a. rocker adapted to close the outlet against passage of said articles in one position. i

2. A feeding device comprising a receptacle provided with a stationary inclined floor and an outlet, an agitator comprising a convex bar located within said receptacle and adjacent said inclined floor, and means for reciprocating same in a plane parallel to the floor.

3. A feeding device comprising a receptacle provided with an inclined floor and an outlet, a rocker located near the floor and beneath the articles to be fed and adapted when rocked to enlarge and restrict the outlet, and an agitating bar located between the articles to be fed and the floor and reciprocating in a plane parallel. to the floor, and both said rocker and agitator located in position relative to the outlet so as to agitate the goods to be fed at such outlet.

at. A feeding device comprising a receptacle provided with an inclined floor and a lower outlet, and agitating means located on both sides of the outlet and adapted to close the same when in one position, comprising a bar located adjacent the floor at one side of the outlet, and means for reciprocating same, and a rocker forming part of the floor at the other side of said outlet.

5. A feeding device comprising a receptacle provided with a lower outlet, a rocker forming part of the floor on one side of said outlet, and a reciprocating agitator comprising a bar disposed parallel with the articles to be fed and located adjacent the floor on the other side, both said devices being located adjacent the outlet. 7

6. A feeding device comprising a receptacle provided with an inclined floor and with an outlet at the lower part of said floor, and an agitating device comprising a bar arranged parallel with the articles to be fed located upon said floor adjacent to said outlet, and means for reciprocating same in a plane parallel to the floor.

7. A feeding device comprising a receptacle provided with an inclined floor and with an outlet at the lower part of said floor, and means for agitating the articles to be fed, located beneath said articles and comprising a rocker at one side of said outlet and a reciprocating agitator at the other side, and means for reciprocating said agitator in a plane parallel with the plane of the floor.

8. A feeding device comprising a hopper, an agitator for agitating the material to be fed, a slideway adjacent to and outside of the outlet from said hopper, and an arm pivotally mounted in said slideway adapted to rest upon and to be maintained in posi tion by the material passing through said slideway.

9. A feeding device comprising a slideway, and means for feeding material thereto. said slideway having a floor composed of uninterrupted longitudinal members extending from end to end thereof and adapted to support articles presented transversely thereof and having openings extending lengthwise of said floor and of a length exceeding the width of said slideway through which articles improperly pre sented lengthwise thereof may fall.

10. A feeding device comprising a slide way provided with oppositely disposed openings at the foot, and means for ejecting articles therefrom comprising an ejector adapted to move parallel with the'articles to be ejected and adapted to engage the end of the lowermost article and discharge same, a guideway for said ejector, said ejector being slotted longitudinally to receive the end of said slideway and means for moving said ejector.

11. A feeding device comprising a hopper provided with an outlet, a device for agitating the material in said hopper, a slideway adapted to receive material from said hopper, means for relieving the slideway of improperly presented material, and

means for ejecting said material from said slideway.

12. A feeding device comprising a hopper having an inclined floor provided with an outlet, rocking and agitating devices located within said hopper adjacent to said outlet, comprising a rocker located in substantially the plane of the floor at one side of said outlet and a bar lying parallel with and beneath the articles to be fed upon the other side, and means for reciprocating said bar in a direction toward and away from the outlet, a slideway adapted to receive material from said hopper, and means for ejecting material from said slideway.

13. A feeding device comprising a hop-. per having an inclined floor provided with an outlet, a rocking device forming a part of said floor on one side of said outlet, a bar located near the floor on the opposite side and means for reciprocating same toward and from the outlet, a slideway adapted to receive material from said hopper, means for relieving said slideway of improperly presented material, means for discharging material from said slideway, and a chute receiving said discharged material.

14. A feeding device comprising a hopper, provided with an outlet, agitating devices located at each side of said outlet and underneath the material to be fed, comprising a transverse reciprocating agitating bar and a rocker adapted to be moved near each other to close the outlet and apart to open the same and in such movements to agitate the material to be fed.

15. A feeding device comprising a hopper, having an inclined stationary floor, an outlet at a low part thereof, a reciprocating slide underlying the mateiral to be fed, an agitator comprising a bar disposed parallel with the articles to be fed upon said slide, adjacent the outlet adapted to alternately open and close the outlet.

16. A feeding device comprising a hopper, having an inclined floor, an outlet at a low part thereof, a reciprocating slide underlying the material to be fed, an agitating bar upon said slide, adjacent the outlet, a rocker upon the opposite side of the outlet, said rocker and agitator adapted to be moved toward and from each other and to alternately open and close the outlet.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EUGENE SEAVEY.

Witnesses: HUNTER U. LIGHT, H. FEISE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

